A confidential report by the United Nations' nuclear watchdog circulated to member states said on Wednesday that Iran increased its stockpile of uranium enriched to near weapons-grade levels before Israel launched air strikes on the country on 13 June. The report by the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said that as of 13 June, Iran had 440.9 kilograms of uranium enriched up to 60%, an increase of 32.3 kilograms since the IAEA's last report in May. The report stated that this figure is "based on the information provided by Iran, agency verification activities between 17 May 2025 and 12 June 2025, and estimates based on the past operation of the relevant facilities." That material is a short, technical step away from weapons-grade levels of 90%. The confidential report also said Iran and the IAEA have not reached an agreement on resuming inspections of sites affected by Israeli and US bombings in June. The only site inspected since the conflict has been the Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant, which operates with Russian technical assistance. The director general of the UN nuclear watchdog, Rafael Grossi, said in the report that "technical modalities to enable the full resumption of Agency inspection should be concluded without delay." The report stated that while the withdrawal of UN inspectors from Iran during the fighting was necessary given the security situation, Tehran's decision to stop cooperation with the IAEA was "deeply regrettable." The IAEA said that since 13 June, it has "not been able to conduct the in-field activities required to collect and verify Iran's declarations used to estimate the changes to the previously reported stockpile." According to the IAEA, approximately 42 kilograms of 60% enriched uranium is theoretically enough to produce one atomic bomb, if enriched further to 90%. The IAEA also reported that inspectors have not been able to verify Iran's near bomb-grade stockpile for over two and a half months, which it called "a matter of serious concern." Iran has long insisted its program is peaceful, though it is the only non-nuclear-armed nation enriching uranium to those levels. The US, the IAEA and others assess Iran had a nuclear weapons programme up until 2003. — Euronews
